Spring Forward
by Saintsavory
Summary: Set after Piper serves her sentence and is released from prison. Will Piper run into Alex by chance, and if so, how would that meeting turn out? (This story is complete, and I will upload the three or four chapters, one per day.)
1. Chapter 1

Spring Forward

Spring was in the air, and after a brutal winter, everyone was smiling as they hustled down Houston Street. Everyone except for Piper. She'd never had allergies as a child, but after being released from prison and moving back to the city, the pollen count had sent her to the doctor every March. Allegra, Claritin, Zyrtec and Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride didn't help, but ginger tea and acupuncture seemed to make the first three weeks of spring manageable.

"You're late," Piper greeted her friend with mock indignation over the rim of her Wayfarers.

"Now you know how it feels." Polly handed her a large bag and hoisted the other over her shoulder. "We had a meeting at The Spence School with Finn that ran late."

"He's four," Piper commented indignantly as they made their way down the steps.

"Kindergarten next year. We're actually starting this process late, which I blame entirely on my husband and his lack of pedigree." Polly glanced at her watch. "Speaking of, I hope this doesn't take long; Pete can't pick up Finn this afternoon, which means I have to be back by three."

Piper whipped her head around and glared. "We've had this meeting on the books for weeks."

"Life happens." Polly shrugged. "I've got three hours. We can get this done in three hours."

"_Each batch takes three hours, so we can make two or three each day."_

_Polly punched numbers into her calculator. "Two, sure, but not three."_

"_We're going to make it work this time." Piper ladled the hot soap mixture into a plastic mold. "I promise."_

"_I'm not the one who needs this, Piper." She glanced up. "If it were up to me, we'd be at a spa, getting pedicures right now."_

"_I can't afford pedicures. Hell, I can't afford rent, hence the soap thing."_

"_I'm just saying, it's more work than I have time for now that we have Finn." Polly placed the mold into a chilling apparatus. "But I made a commitment to you, and I intend to keep it—two days a week—that's all."_

"_I know, two days a week. Got it."_

During their ride to the Upper West Side, they ended up on the Subway with one of Polly's old friends, and Piper took the time to return a few e-mails from her phone. When the Subway stopped, Polly and her friend were still deep in conversation as Piper began to make her way to the staircase. Her attention was suddenly drawn to a nicely dressed woman walking at a brisk pace towards the Subway.

Tall.

Long black hair.

Glasses.

She told herself that it wasn't Alex; it never was. Piper saw women like that all the time—twice a day, in fact. Still, her palms began to sweat and her pulse raced at the mere possibility.

The last time she'd seen Alex was at Litchfield more than four years ago, and things had ended badly. By the time she'd been released from solitary, Alex had been transferred. Piper heard later that Alex had put in the request.

When she got out of prison, Piper searched for Alex on the internet every week for two years, and nothing surfaced other than the drug charges and prison sentence. She wrote a total of six letters to Alex, but the last two were returned to sender. As far as she knew, Alex was still in prison. If she'd managed to get out, Lord knows where she was.

The dreams that Piper had about Alex always involved running like they were being chased. There was the rare intimate dream, but as soon as Alex leaned in to kiss her, Piper always woke up. Four years later, she still had dreams involving Alex, but they were less frequent. She finally earned enough money to see a therapist, and she'd had three visits thus far. She figured her therapy sessions were the reason for her recent hyper-awareness of anyone resembling Alex Vause.

Piper couldn't stop herself from taking a few steps forward on the Subway platform, just to make sure her mind wasn't playing tricks on her, but she was still too far away to make out any details. "Polly, I'll be right back."

"I'm wrapping up," Polly said as she hugged her acquaintance and told her something about the pending meeting.

The tall, dark haired woman stepped onto the Subway car, the doors shut, and she turned around.

Ten feet away on a train that slowly picked up speed stood Alex Vause as plain as day.

Piper whispered her name, more to herself in a state of disbelief than to anyone else around. It was as if she was slowly waking from one of her dreams, and by the time Alex's name left her lips, the Subway was gone.

"Who was that?" Polly asked as she caught up with her friend.

Piper knew the disdain Polly had for her ex-lover, so she shook her head and mumbled, "Nobody." She felt queasy and knew that she must've looked pale as the blood ran from her head to her heart. For a moment, she thought about bracing herself against the brick wall, but she took three deep breaths and followed Polly up the stairs.

Sitting in a candlelit room in the back of Lyla's Bath & Body was downright painful. Inside of an hour ago, Piper was pumped for this meeting, ready to sell their soaps and lotions to the 20th store in Manhattan, but all that changed when she saw Alex. She couldn't wait to get out of there and do what, she didn't know. She just couldn't stand the thought of Alex on a Subway in New York, while she was in an armchair in the back of an overpriced boutique.

Piper had many questions that she played over and over in her mind if she ever ran into Alex. Her therapist told her that journaling would be good for her—she should record her feelings and the questions she had for her ex. When was she was released? Why did she request to be transferred? Did she go back to moving large amounts of heroin for a different cartel? Was she in a relationship?

"We'll be in touch."

The scraping of a chair on the concrete floor startled Piper.

"We're looking forward to it," Polly replied and shook Lyla's hand.

Piper extended her hand. "It was nice meeting you."

After exchanging pleasantries and exiting the store, Polly glared at her companion. "What the fuck was that?"

"What?"

"I thought the deal was you'd make the sell, Piper. You always close with that touching bullshit story." She picked up the pace. "You hardly said three words!"

"I was distracted." Her mind reeled back to the situation and realized that she'd been no help whatsoever. "Shit. I'm sorry, Polly. Do you think we should go back?"

"No, I do not." She turned the corner. "It's done. We'll be lucky to even get a call back."

Polly didn't say a word to Piper until they got on the Subway back to the West Village. "Are you feeling ok?"

"I might've taken too much allergy medicine this morning." This was her out. Piper didn't plan to tell her that she'd seen Alex earlier, and she needed a handy excuse for her behavior. "I'm groggy."

Polly sighed, and then hugged her before exiting at her stop. "Let's talk in the morning."

Piper nodded and rode the Subway in silence for three more stops. She walked past a new wine bar that had just opened and thought for a moment about going inside, but changed her mind in favor of jumping on her computer at home to see if she could dig up any information about Alex. Damn that woman, she thought, for surfacing at a totally unexpected time.

The door to her studio apartment was unlocked, and when she walked in, she was greeted by the one person she didn't want to see.

"Surprise!"

"Shit, Carter, you scared me." She threw her purse on a chair. "You know I don't like it when you come over unannounced."

"I was in the neighborhood and figured I'd pop in." He kissed her on the cheek. "I tried calling, and I texted you twice."

She'd met Carter six months ago at a cricket match that Pete drug her to. They hit it off immediately and went on several double dates with her closest friends. Carter was a Brit who came to the US for college and never returned to his hometown of Manchester. He worked in finance and traveled often, which suited Piper just fine. He could be a bit overbearing and wanted to take their relationship to the next level, but she wanted a casual relationship. However, he took her to fancy parties and fine dinners, which she always appreciated. It reminded her slightly of her extravagant lifestyle many years ago, but the emotional connection was a mere blip on the radar.

Piper dug her phone out of her pocket, and sure enough, she had one missed call and two texts from Carter. "Polly and I were on the Upper West Side for a meeting with a boutique."

"How did it go?" He took her hand and walked towards the sofa.

"Not well." Piper sat at the opposite end of the sofa and removed her hand from his. "Don't change the subject, Carter. I don't like it when you 'pop in' when I'm away."

"Sorry, I thought you might want to know that I got a promotion today." He said with a hint of hurt.

"I'm happy for you. You deserve it." Piper grabbed his hand and squeezed it. She let it go and rubbed her face. "My allergies are acting up. I'm sorry; I'm just not feeling good. Let me make it up to you—dinner Friday night on me."

Carter smiled. "I'll take you up on that."

"I'll call you later." Piper stood and pulled him towards the entryway. "I'm going to take a hot bath, swig some Benadryl and go to sleep."

He kissed her on the top of her head. "Feel better."

When the door closed, she pressed her back against it and let her chin sag to her chest and took several deep breaths. She pushed herself away from the door and fired up her laptop, hoping that there was something—anything—about Alex Vause since the last time she'd checked a week ago.

"_How long are you going to be on your computer?" Piper stretched out on the king sized bed._

"_Another hour or so, why?" Alex didn't look up from the keyboard._

"_I just thought you might want to take a break or, you know, be done for the night." She flipped on her side._

_Alex peered over her shoulder. "Holy shit, Piper."_

_Piper had spent the day shopping in Brussels and found a long, transparent, black negligee that left nothing to the imagination. She'd pulled off the tags with her teeth and slipped into it as soon as she returned to the Ritz. _

_Alex was exactly where she'd left her three hours earlier—typing feverishly on her laptop at the desk next to the window._

"_You like?" Piper asked as she ran a hand down her thigh._

"_I fucking _**love**_." Alex closed her laptop and sauntered towards her lover._

Despite the fact that Poppy turned a profit at the beginning of last year, Piper still had to wait tables to make ends meet. Her father's insistence that she meet with a financial advisor finally got the best of her last Christmas, so she took his advice. According to the advisor, Piper would most likely have to work at the restaurant for another year before Poppy really took off and she could be more financially stable.

She'd waited tables at Balthazar in SoHo since she'd moved back to the city, so she was able to set her schedule to accommodate the work she needed to do for Poppy. Piper almost always worked Saturday nights, which was when she garnered her biggest tips, sometimes bringing home upwards of $500 in cash. Still, she did not enjoy living paycheck to paycheck and couldn't wait until she could focus exclusively on her business rather than serving duck confit and dry martinis to wealthy customers.

Piper picked up the Friday lunch shift so that she could treat Carter to a nice dinner that evening. She knew that, on paper, he was a catch, but she'd been down that road before. Larry looked good on paper. She'd loved him, but she admitted much later that she was never _in love_ with him. When that relationship ended, Piper learned a great deal about herself, and promised not to fall into the same pattern once she was a free woman, yet she found herself heading in exactly the same direction with Carter.

Sex with Carter was…decent. Even after being out of prison for four years, she still craved being touched, and she figured that was a big reason why she was with him. At first, it was difficult for Piper not to compare sex with Carter to sex with Alex; she knew that was unfair. Although Piper considered herself a wordsmith, she never could find the right words to describe sex with Alex, so she gave up trying long ago.

"_That was…" Piper panted._

_Alex covered her with an oversized beach towel. "Yes?"_

"_Unreal," she finished._

"_We're on one of the most pristine black sand beaches in the world, I just made you come three times, and all you can come up with is, 'that was unreal'?" Alex smirked._

"_Stupendous?" Piper tried again._

_Alex kissed her squarely on the mouth. "Better."_

"_Extraordinary? Breathtaking?" Piper giggled as Alex traced her fingertips up her ribcage._

_She pulled away from Alex's touch and looked her in the eye. "I don't know if I'll ever have words to describe how you make me feel."_

"_You never have to tell me." Alex smiled proudly at her lover. "Just show me."_

Piper hustled home after work to shower and change before taking Carter to Souths on Church Street. She'd been craving blackened catfish for weeks. The pouring rain didn't deter her from wearing a new spring dress that she'd scored for $15 at a second hand store in Chelsea. It was still a little chilly for strapless, but her great-grandmother's pink pashmina would keep her warm enough.

On any given night, she'd walk the five blocks to Souths, but with the pouring rain, she decided to take a taxi and leave her umbrella at home. She gave the cabbie her destination, dabbed some gloss on her lips and sat back to watch the city fly by. She could tell the tourists from the locals simply by the way they walked. She smiled at an older couple, struggling to keep their umbrella upright while looking at a map and pointing at various buildings.

Passing by the older couple with her head down was a tall, dark haired woman who immediately caught Piper's eye. Just like three days before, Piper's heart raced, thinking that it could be her. She put her hand on the window and squinted to see the figure walking briskly in the rain. The cab jolted forward, screeching through a yellow light and leaving the dark haired woman behind.

"Turn around." Piper craned her neck, and as she did so, the woman looked up. She was convinced that it was Alex. "I said, TURN AROUND!"

The taxi driver explained that they were making good time and that the restaurant was a couple of blocks away, but Piper heard none of it.

"I need to get out!" She tugged on the door handle, but it didn't budge. "Let me out of here!" She banged on the partition.

"Are you crazy, lady?" The cabbie drove half a block before sharply pulling over.

"I need to get out of this cab right now," Piper explained as calmly as she could while digging in her wristlet for the cab fare. She'd lost nearly five minutes. She shoved several dollar bills through the small opening in the plastic partition and heard the doors unlock.

Piper bolted down Franklin, scanning the crowd for the woman who she was convinced was Alex Vause. She stormed into a cheese shop, a bakery and then a boutique, looking around for a few seconds and then departing in a flash when no one resembled her ex-lover. "Excuse me," she asked a doorman. "Did a tall woman with long, black hair and glasses just come in here?"

"No, ma'am. Sorry."

Frustrated but undeterred, she entered Aire Spa and tried to keep her voice down as she asked the woman at the front desk the same question. She got the same answer.

By the time she'd searched the small area where she'd spotted Alex, she looked down at her dress, and it was soaking wet. She caught her reflection in a glass door and noticed that her hair was even wetter than her outfit. Piper didn't know whether to scream or cry; she stood there, in the middle of the sidewalk and the rain, scanning the crowd.

After minutes past, Piper sat next to a homeless man on a bench, lost in a daze. She didn't care about the rain—her dress, hair and makeup were soaked beyond repair by that point. The shrill of her mobile phone startled her, but she didn't answer it. She didn't even look at the phone. She knew it was Carter.

Piper was uncertain how much time had passed when her phone made a pinging sound, notifying her of a text. She knew she should at least let Carter know that she was ok. She typed a short message as she stood, and then walked in the direction of her apartment. "I can't make it tonight. Please forgive me."

When Piper made it inside her tiny studio, she crumbled to the ground, holding her head in her hands and cried. She tried to convince herself that she just wanted to talk to Alex even for five minutes—to get some answers and know that she was doing well; tell Alex that she didn't want to be back in the web of her fucked up life. If she could just see her, face-to-face, she could tell her that.

Trouble was, Piper could never fool herself into thinking that it would be a quick encounter.

"_Where in the hell have you been?" Piper screamed as soon as the hotel door shut._

"_Sorry, I had no idea the meeting would take so long." Alex removed her raincoat and flung it onto a chair. _

"_I've been sitting here, waiting for you for five FUCKING hours!" She put her hands on her hips._

"_I thought you'd go out and explore like you always do." Alex kicked off her heels, seemingly underestimating Piper's anger._

"_You asked me to wait for you. You told me that it would take a couple of hours." Piper tried keeping her voice down. "No one in this whole fucking city speaks English, and my Russian is a little sloppy these days."_

"_I'm sorry, Piper, I really am." Alex sat on the bed and put her glasses on top of her head. "I'm exhausted. Let me make it up to you tomorrow."_

"_Tomorrow?" Piper raised her eyebrows. "I haven't eaten in like 12 hours, Alex!"_

"_Calm down." She reached for the room service menu, picked up the phone and ordered steak and a bottle of wine, using her limited but impressive Russian vocabulary. "Dinner will be up in 30 minutes. Come here and let me rub your cute, little pacing feet."_

_Piper huffed, but complied. "I hate it when you forget that I'm waiting for you."_

"_I can't always control when I get out of these meetings, Piper, but I never forget that you're waiting for me." Alex pushed Piper's hair off her neck and placed tiny kisses below her ear. "Believe me, I want to get back to you…to this…as fast as humanly possible."_

**End Part 1**


	2. Chapter 2

Nearly a month passed since she'd seen Alex walking down the street in the rain. Piper never told Carter about Alex in general, so she certainly couldn't tell him that she'd seen her that night. She apologized profusely to him, and while things between them weren't great, they were fine. Piper had been to her therapist twice, and Dr. Burke had her convinced that she hadn't really seen Alex at all. "Sometimes we see what we want to see," he'd told her.

Nevertheless, in the back of her mind, Piper knew who she saw. She'd swear her life on it.

It took a couple of weeks to gather her closest friends for an early happy hour at the new wine bar two blocks from her apartment, but they all vowed to show up by 4 o'clock. Piper was in desperate need of time with her friends and several glasses of wine. She couldn't remember the last time she felt relaxed.

Vinoscope looked like it didn't belong in the neighborhood—there was a Laundromat on one side and an insurance company on the other. Two doors down was a bicycle repair place and across the street was an Indian spice shop. The wine bar's interior was modern and inviting. It was one long and slender room with blond-colored shelving along one wall and a row of mirrors on the other. What appeared to be hundreds of votive candles and small lamps behind the bar were the only sources of light.

"You made it," Piper's friend, Billie, announced with a big hug.

"I can't believe this place," Piper said as she skimmed the bar. "Who knew something this cool was in my neighborhood?"

"Gentrification at its finest." Yohana, Piper's co-worker at Balthazar, grew up in the area and always had a comment on hand about urban renewal.

Polly walked in and the women scored a table near the front of the bar as three guys in skinny jeans departed.

"Nature calls. Be right back." Piper made her way through the crowd to the back of the bar, and when she looked up, Alex Vause was three feet in front of her.

Piper blinked several times and stopped abruptly, while an apparently intoxicated woman slammed into her back. Her mind felt like a blender and the dull buzz between her ears was almost too much to handle.

She took a step forward and swallowed hard. "Alex?"

The dark haired woman looked up. "Piper?"

Piper noticed that a steady stream of wine missed the glass that Alex was pouring, but the ever-so-cool Alex wiped it up as if nothing happened.

"I…" Alex broke her stare and looked down, then back up at Piper. "Can you give me a minute?"

Piper's mouth became incredibly dry. "Do you work here?"

"Give me a minute." Alex raised her eyebrows.

She was stuck in her tracks; she nodded but didn't move. It wasn't until a woman asked if she was in line for the bathroom when Piper finally spun around. She hesitated to turn her back on Alex for fear that she'd disappear. She took a few steadying breaths and closed her eyes.

What was probably only seconds felt like hours as Piper waited for Alex to come to her. She felt a hand on her shoulder and heard a faint, "hey," before turning around again. Piper kept her eyes shut as she melted into the woman across from her. In that moment, she didn't need to see Alex. Her other senses kicked in and she could feel and smell her; there was no mistaking who she was holding.

Alex was the first to withdraw. "I wasn't expecting to run into you, like ever."

"Neither was I." Piper smiled feebly. "I saw you…I've seen you around New York…at least I thought it was you."

"Probably was." She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose. "I live in Queens, but I spend a lot of time on the Westside."

"You live here?" Piper raised her brow.

Alex nodded. "A little over a year now."

"But you never…"

"…Piper, I can't talk now," Alex interrupted and stood a bit taller. "And no, I don't work here. I work for a wine distributor, and Zack is one of our clients. I'm in the middle of a sales call." She reached in her pocket and pulled out a business card. "Ever thought you'd see me with something like this?"

Piper glanced at the maroon card with Alex's name printed on the front. "No."

"Call me." Alex squeezed her forearm and walked back to the end of the bar and apologized for her absence. She picked up a bottle of wine and poured a small amount into two glasses and gave one a good swirl before sniffing and drinking it.

Piper forgot all about her need to use the restroom, and after getting shoved several times, decided to make her way back to her friends in the front of the bar. She was thankful that Polly had stepped outside to answer a call when she got back to the table.

"Long line?" Yohana asked.

"I just saw someone I haven't seen in years." Piper sat on a stool, facing the back of the bar. She could occasionally see Alex when one of the patrons stepped out of the way.

"You look like you just saw a ghost," Billie commented. "You ok, Piper?"

"I'm…" She gulped the entire glass of water in front of her. "I'm fine. Please don't tell Polly about this."

Her two companions gave each other a look, but it was lost on Piper. Her sights were fixed for the foreseeable future.

It wasn't until their second glass of wine when Piper finally caught Alex looking her way. Her friends were discussing politics with gusto, and Piper tuned out for a moment. (Not that she was tuned _in_ to _any_ part of their conversation.) Her ex-lover smiled, but Piper wasn't sure if it was directed at her or the man with whom Alex was speaking. The next time it happened, she was convinced that Alex's grin was meant for her.

Alex, Piper thought, looked good. The last time they'd seen each other was in prison, wearing khaki uniforms and bulky black shoes. It had been many years since she'd seen Alex in street clothes. She had on a fitted black dress with an open collar and a slim, gold chain that tied the front together. She looked professional and downright sexy at the same time. Piper chastised herself for thinking that Alex looked sexy—she wasn't supposed to have those thoughts. Not after everything that had happened.

* * *

_"Fuck, you're hot," Alex commented as she entered the bathroom and noticed her lover bathing in the claw foot tub._

_Piper smiled. "You can't even see me—I'm covered in bubbles."_

_"Yes, but you're reading Nietzsche and listening to Duke Ellington." She kneeled next to the oversized bathtub._

_"And drinking a glass of '82 La Tache," Piper added._

_Alex brushed a wet piece of hair off Piper's neck and kissed her shoulder. "I thought we were saving that bottle for a special occasion?"_

_"Then let's make this a special occasion." Piper dropped the book on the ground and tugged Alex closer._

_"Let's," she replied, undressing before joining Piper in the bubbles._

* * *

After an hour, Alex slipped out the back door without any fanfare, and Piper felt naked the moment she left. She couldn't follow her, and she couldn't discuss this with her friends—at least not with Polly, who would go absolutely ballistic if Piper brought up Alex's name.

When Piper first got out of prison, they'd spent many nights talking about Alex and what transpired in prison. Piper thought that Polly hated her ex-girlfriend more than she herself hated the walls of prison.

She was relieved when Polly and Yohana announced that they had to leave. Billie had dinner reservations with a woman she was seeing, and Piper half-wished that she could have stayed to talk. The other part of her wanted to be alone so that she could think about what she wanted to say to Alex. She didn't know if a phone call was warranted or if a simple text message would do.

When she returned to her apartment, she kicked off her shoes and began pacing. Piper poured another glass of wine, because the three glasses at the bar weren't enough to give her the courage to contact Alex. She turned Alex's business card over in her hand and was baffled by what she saw: _Alex Vause, Sales Representative, Titan Wine & Spirits._ Piper didn't think for one minute that Alex had what it took to hold a "normal" job. She wondered if it suited her well or if Alex was cringing inside.

She decided that texting Alex would be the most efficient, unemotional way to go, so she pulled out her phone and tried six or seven messages before settling on one: "Hi, it's Piper. Would love to catch up." She hit the send button, but then had second thoughts about typing "catch up." Is that what they'd do—catch up? She certainly couldn't write what she figured would happen, "Hey, let's get together and hash out some old shit and dredge up some serious emotions."

She decided to take a bath to try to relax, and just as she settled into the hot water, a text popped up on her phone. "Are you free tomorrow night?"

* * *

_"Are you free tomorrow night?" Alex asked, folding Piper's resume in half._

_"Are you asking me out?" Piper felt bold with three margaritas under her belt._

_"Not yet." Alex smirked._

_"Yes, I'm free." She bit her lower lip._

_"Then let me take you out." Alex grinned and rubbed the back of Piper's hand with her thumb. "We'll drink the best margaritas in town, not this shitty, watered down, sorry excuse for a cocktail."_

_"I like a woman who appreciates good tequila." Piper smiled._

_Alex huffed. "Maybe I'll take you to Mexico some day and show you what good tequila actually tastes like."_

* * *

It was just like Alex, she thought, to skip the preamble. Piper needed to work at Balthazar on Saturday, but she refused to let this moment pass. It wouldn't be hard for her to get coverage at the restaurant.

"Yes. Where?"

Alex texted back immediately. "Not in public."

Piper felt her stomach sink. She knew this conversation would be difficult, but Alex was making it very clear that she thought the same. She hoped that they could meet in a café or a coffee shop precisely to avoid raised voices, but Alex had apparently nixed that idea.

If they were going to hash out old feelings and get to the bottom of what happened at Litchfield and beyond, Piper wanted to be on her turf. "My place, 234 Lafayette Street, Unit D. 7:30."

"Will bring booze," was Alex's response.

Piper sank deeper into the tub and didn't know whether to smile or frown. She was overjoyed to have seen Alex in the wine bar, but the inevitable conversation would be painful for both of them.

**End Part 2**


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for all of the reviews. Warms my heart.

Piper's apartment had not been cleaned that thoroughly since she'd moved in. She dusted, vacuumed, cleaned the bathroom from top to bottom, scrubbed the sinks and changed a few light bulbs that had been burnt out for as long as she could remember. She debated on whether or not to light candles, but ultimately decided that one honeysuckle candle in the bathroom and a citrus one on the stove would suffice. After all, her studio was only 400 square feet, and it didn't take much to infuse the space with fragrance.

She pretended that picking out what to wear was no big deal, but she had to admit to herself after trying on 20-something different outfits that it mattered to some degree. She settled on a worn pair of Levi's and a white tank top with a coral print. She decided against wearing shoes, but had a pair of black Converse near the door just in case.

At 7:30, Piper began fidgeting. She fanned out a pile of magazines, stared at the display, and then picked them back up and stacked them in a pile. She adjusted the wooden blinds to allow more light inside, but the sun had already set, so she closed them completely. When the buzzer rang, Piper had just dumped some cashews into a small bowl.

She inhaled deeply, smoothed her tank top, and answered the buzzer. "Hello?"

"Hi, it's me."

Piper liked the fact that Alex didn't have to announce her name, and instead, figured that Piper would know her voice with just three words. "I'll buzz you in. I'm on the third floor."

This was it, Piper thought. The moment she'd been dreaming of and dreading for years.

Alex knocked on the door, and Piper waited ten seconds before answering. She wanted to give Alex the impression that she was busy and not waiting on pins and needles for her arrival.

"Hi," Alex greeted her with what appeared to be a heavy bag slung across her upper body.

"Hi." Piper smiled and stepped out of the way.

"Nice place," she commented, looking around the room. "Small, but nice."

Piper couldn't detect even a hint of anxiety in Alex's voice. She sounded like she always did—confident and in control.

"My friend's father owns the building," Piper said. "He gives me a pretty steep discount on rent. I couldn't afford it otherwise."

"Tell me about it." Alex put the sack on the counter. "It's why I live in Queens with a roommate."

"What's this?" Piper peered into the bag.

"Wine." She pulled out six bottles. "I figured a bottle an hour ought to do it, and some bubbly if there's cause for celebration."

Piper's eyes went wide. "Celebration?"

"If we haven't killed each other by the time I leave, I think that's cause for celebration." Alex didn't look her in the eye, and Piper wondered if she was only half-joking.

"You get this stuff for free?" Piper glanced at a wine label and pretended to read it. She could feel her hands sweating on the bottle and had to take a few steadying breaths. Piper knew that it would take her a while to center herself. Alex always had a way of making her restless.

She also had a way of making her hot.

* * *

_"Hey, kid," Alex greeted her near the entrance of the Mercury Lounge with a fresh gin and tonic._

_Piper accepted the cocktail and eyed Alex up and down, unable to conceal her pleasure, and blushing at the same time._

_"See something you like?" Alex asked with a perceptive grin._

_"Your…your, uh," Piper trailed off and took a swig of the cocktail. "Those pants. You look good in those pants."_

_"Italian leather. I have another pair at home that would probably fit you." She grabbed Piper's free hand and placed it on her own ass. "You'd look so fucking hot in leather."_

* * *

Piper tried not to look at her ex-lover too closely, but when she removed her long jacket, she got a glimpse of her tight, black jeans and somewhat low-cut blouse. If Alex leaned over just a bit, she knew she'd be able to see the tops of her breasts. Piper wondered what color bra she was wearing.

When Alex walked over to a chair to throw her jacket over the back, Piper couldn't help staring at her ass, which was as perfect as she'd remembered. Whatever Alex was doing for physical vigor, Piper thought, suited her very well.

"It's the one indulgence I don't have to pay for," Alex replied coolly. "Mind if I open a bottle?"

Piper was startled at the request and wondered if Alex caught her staring. She quickly averted her eyes. "Yes, of course." She handed her the bottle opener.

Alex eyed the old corkscrew and pulled one out of her own bag. "I'm going to have to get you something a little more…modern."

"This one works just fine," Piper replied, ignoring the familiarity of Alex's statement. "What are we having?"

"You want my technical answer or what I'd tell my friends?"

Piper shrugged. "Both."

"Ok." She twisted the corkscrew into the bottle with ease. "This is a 2010 Viognier from William Church in Washington State. It's their flagship white and has beautiful aromatics of fresh pear and honeysuckle. There's enough acidity to keep the wine fresh and lively, so it pairs nicely with Asian food, mushrooms, and creamy soups."

"Wow, seriously?" Piper smiled. "Did you make all of that up or do you actually know what you're talking about?"

"I know my shit." It was Alex's turn to smile. She poured a small amount into each glass and swirled, then sniffed the wine.

"I taste pear. I'm not getting the honeysuckle, but it's really good." Piper took another sip. "If that's the technical version, what would you tell your friends?"

"When they ask what we're drinking?" Alex swigged the small pour and rolled it around her mouth before swallowing. "White wine."

Piper almost spit the liquid out as she began to laugh.

"I won't bore you with industry talk anymore." She poured two full glasses.

"I don't mind." Piper wiped her mouth. "I kind of like it."

Their eyes met, but Alex quickly looked into her glass and swirled the wine again. She took another sip, and then walked into the petite living room. "You still have this Angkor Wat rubbing?"

Piper followed, but stayed a few feet back and put her free hand in her pocket. "It's one of my favorite pieces."

She could see a slight smile form on Alex's face and wondered if she remembered their time together in Cambodia.

Alex touched the flimsy white curtain that separated Piper's sleeping space from her living room. "May I?"

Piper shrugged. Alex, Piper thought, had always been curious about her space and belongings. She opened the curtains enough to fit through the slit. "It's bright."

Piper had intentionally bought lots of orange, pink, green and yellow throw pillows to brighten up her small 'bedroom.' She'd inherited a red dresser from her paternal grandmother that sat along the far wall, and she'd bought a tall bookshelf from a flea market that she'd painted bright green and filled with books.

"I still have boxes of stuff, mostly books, in my parents' basement."

Alex didn't acknowledge her; instead, she glanced at the photographs along the dresser and picked up one of Piper with a group of women,and then quickly set it back down. "No pictures of Larry?"

She let out a brusque sound. "We broke up before I was released."

Alex looked up. "Really?"

"You didn't know that?" Piper asked incredulously.

"I might've heard something like that." She took a sip of wine, and then slowly walked back into the living room. "So…why am I here?"

"I thought we should talk." Piper tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "We haven't seen each other in nearly five years, and now we live in the same city and I thought we could…"She made a waving motion between them. "Air things out."

Alex raised her eyebrows. "Like dirty laundry?"

"You could call it that." Piper lifted her chin; stood a little taller.

"I wouldn't know where to start." Alex poured herself another glass of wine.

Piper raised her glass to signal she wanted more. "How about we begin with you ratting me out to the feds?"

"Jesus Christ, that was years ago, and I explained it all to you when we were in prison!"

"That was under duress. I want to hear it again, when I'm of sane mind and spirit."

"To what end?" Alex threw her hands in the air. "What will that solve, dredging up painful memories from ages ago?"

Piper crossed her arms. "If we don't discuss everything, and I mean everything, we have no chance of moving on."

"Moving on to what?" Alex huffed.

"I don't know—being…friends again." She shrugged.

Alex lifted her eyeglasses to rest on top of her head. "I told you before; we were never friends."

"Then what label would you assign to what we meant to each other?"

"We were lovers." Alex looked her in the eye. "Nothing more, nothing less."

Piper blushed and fiddled with a ring on her right hand, but didn't speak.

"What's the end game here?" Alex continued. "If you want to clear your conscience, fine. You're absolved from anything bad you've ever done to me."

"You think that's what this is about?" Piper raised her voice. "That I want to argue with you, clear my conscience and live happily ever after?"

Alex put her hands on her hips. "I don't know. Is it?"

"No!" Piper turned away.

"What, then?" Alex's voice softened.

Piper collected her thoughts before replying, "I want to be at peace with however we leave things tonight." She turned back to face Alex and tilted her head. "Do you think we can manage that?"

Alex waited a beat before responding, "I honestly don't know."

They stood in silence for a moment. Piper set her glass on the coffee table and smoothed her hands down her jeans. She sat on the sofa and looked up at Alex with a gloomy face. "Do you want to try?"

Alex's lips twitched. "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?" Piper tried making a neutral expression.

"Like that," she pointed at her face. "Those sad eyes and pouty lips."

"This is my face. I'm not trying to…" she gestured, searching for the right words. "Make…sad eyes at you."

"Whether you meant to or not, it worked, kid." Alex grabbed the bottle of wine off the counter and noticed that it was empty, so she opened another.

Piper managed a half-smile.

"This conversation isn't going to be easy for either of us, Alex, and I know some of it is stuff we've discussed before." She stood across the counter. "But I think we're both in a healthier place to receive information and can process things a little better than we could in prison."

"You have no idea if I'm in a healthier place." Alex put her hands on the counter and looked Piper in the eyes. "We have to be able to call each other's bullshit if this has a chance of going anywhere." She motioned between the two of them. "Why don't we talk about our present lives first, and then, if we're in the right frame of mind, we can dredge up old grievances?"

"That's fair." She looked down. "I didn't mean to assume that you were in a healthy place."

"You did, actually. You wouldn't have mentioned it if you thought otherwise." Alex touched Piper's hand. "Look, I want to believe you've changed, Piper, I really do. But when you pull shit like this…"

"You're right." Piper tugged her hand away. She wasn't ready for physical contact. "You're right, and I get it. Let me rephrase my statement: 'I hope we're both in a healthier place.'"

Alex smirked. "Better."

"So where do we start?"

Alex sighed. "Why don't we take a break and walk to get Chinese takeout?"

Piper nodded. "Ok."

They each put on their jackets and Alex held the door open for Piper who slipped on her Converse before heading out.

"How long have you lived here?" Alex followed her out of the building.

"Almost a year. I can't tell you how nice it is to have my own space." Piper buttoned her jacket. "What about you? What did you do when you got out? When did you get out?" Piper turned the corner, and they passed in front of the wine bar where they'd met the night before.

"I was released on March 3 last year, so I just past my one year get-out-of-jail anniversary." They crossed busy Canal Street.

Piper turned another corner. "Isn't that sooner than you were thinking?"

"Yeah – testifying against Fahri and good behavior shaved off a considerable amount of time."

"Where did you live when you first got out?" They weaved in and out of the stream of people.

"First three months, when they were checking up on me, I lived with my friend, Whitney. I didn't know how difficult it would be to reign myself in, you know, and I partied a little too hard."

"How did you pay for stuff?" Piper led Alex into a well-lit alley.

"My grandparents had given me savings bonds when I was a child, and I cashed them in. I had a couple thousand dollars, which I proceeded to blow in two months." Alex sighed. "Whitney's boyfriend, we called him Biz, was wealthy, and he threw all these elaborate parties in abandoned warehouses in Jersey. As you might imagine, there were a lot of drugs and alcohol. I'm proud to say that I still haven't touched drugs in nearly ten years, but the first six weeks I was out, I got drunk almost every night."

Piper scrunched her face and felt a pang in her gut. "Not good, Alex."

They continued walking, and Alex continued her story. "On April 8 last year, we were in this old building that Biz had set up like a tropical paradise, and the cops showed up. That wasn't the first time they'd rolled in, but this time it was like 3 in the morning, and almost everyone was trashed. I wasn't feeling good, so I'd only had a couple of drinks, thank God. Anyway, the cops rolled in and made their way to the center of the room, where Biz was selling dime bags. One cop pulled his gun out of his holster, and Biz pulled out his pistol." Alex swallowed hard. "Right in front of everyone, they shot him. Killed him on the spot."

Piper stopped walking. "Oh my God!"

"Scared the living hell out of me. I mean, I've seen a lot of fucked up shit in my life, but I'd never seen someone murdered 20 feet away from me."

"I'm so sorry." She touched Alex's arm.

They walked in silence until they reached the Chinese restaurant. There were Peking ducks hanging in the window and a line of people snaked out the door.

* * *

_"I've never had Peking duck."_

_"Tastes like chicken." Alex stabbed a piece with one chopstick and fed it to Piper._

_"Ew!" Piper swallowed quickly, and then wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "It does not taste like chicken. It tastes like…baby duck."_

_Alex laughed and proceeded to eat the delicacy. "How would you know the difference between duck and baby duck, which, by the way, is called a duckling?"_

_"I'll stick with sweet and sour pork, thank you very much," Piper protested, drinking a fair amount of baijiu._

_"We're in fucking Shanghai and you want sweet and sour pork? Be adventurous—try Guotie or Da Zha Xie."_

_Piper licked her lips and leaned in. "Only if you feed it to me naked in bed."_

* * *

"I usually get sweet and sour pork and chow mein," Piper stated.

"Of course you do." Alex grinned.

Piper placed the order and they moved to the side in a cramped space next to the Snapple vending machine. She could feel Alex's thigh lightly pressed against her own, and it sent shivers down her spine and butterflies in her stomach.

"What happened after Biz was killed?" Piper tried to ignore the physical sensation of Alex's touch.

"My life changed that night; I was scared shitless. I knew I couldn't go back to that lifestyle, so it was a huge wakeup call. Besides, I had a lot of enemies from ratting out Fahri, and I didn't want to risk crossing paths with them. All of my friends were either in the drug business or did a lot of drugs to begin with, so I didn't know what the fuck to do." She rested her hand on the counter behind Piper. "I wracked my brain for who I could turn to, and it hit me that the only person I knew who led a somewhat normal life was Mirutse. Do you remember him—tall, thin African guy? Always dressed to the nines?"

"The marathon runner?"

"Yes!" Alex pointed a sharp finger at her. "Anyway, I remembered that his cousin was into heroin, but Mirutse didn't touch the stuff, so I contacted him and asked if I could crash at his place for a few nights."

Their order was ready, and after a bit of arguing over the bill, Alex paid.

"Long story short, Mirutse works for Titan Wine & Spirits and introduced me to a few of his co-workers. We hit it off, and one of them had already put in her two-week notice, so I applied for the position and got it."

"Wow, that's great," Piper said. "Do you enjoy it?"

Alex shifted the bag of Chinese food to her other hand. "I never thought that I could handle a 9 to 5 job, but I like it; I really do."

Piper asked more questions about her job as they made their way back to her flat. Once inside, they dove into the Chinese food and poured several more glasses of wine. Piper shared her story with Alex, including the fact that she still waited tables and had to take the evening off to be with her that night.

"So the soap thing is working out?" Alex set her chopsticks down.

"Better than expected, just not as quickly as I'd like." Piper cleared their plates. "We made a profit early last year, so things are picking up. We even hired a chemist and are going to start making candles by the end of the year."

"I'm happy for you." Alex put the leftovers in the fridge.

Piper turned around and smiled. "Thank you. It feels good."

"More wine?" Alex lifted the bottle.

"Sure." Piper sat on the sofa and already felt tipsy.

"So…" Alex filled Piper's glass with pinot noir. "Are you seeing anyone?"

Piper shifted uncomfortably. She was hoping to avoid this topic but figured it was now or never. "Um, yeah. Sort of."

Alex paused with the bottle in mid-air, which was almost undetectable. "Boy or girl?"

"Boy," she answered simply.

"What do you mean by, 'sort of?'" Alex sat next to her.

"It's not serious." Piper shrugged. "He wants it to be serious, but I'm not ready for that."

"With him or with anyone?"

"Anyone, I guess." Piper ran a finger along the rim of her glass. "There was you, then Larry, then you again. I don't want to be on a roller coaster."

Alex smiled. "Why would you be on a roller coaster if neither I nor Larry is in the picture?"

"I don't know. That's one of the reasons I'm seeing a therapist."

"You're in therapy?"

"Yes, and it's helping," Piper replied defensively.

"Wine is my therapy." Alex chuckled and topped off both of their glasses.

"What about you? Are you seeing anyone?" Piper toyed with the fringe on a pillow.

"God, no." She took a long sip. "I mean, I have sex every now and then, but it's nothing serious."

"Right." Piper hated the thought of Alex having sex with other people, but she kept that thought to herself.

"So here we are." Alex slung her arm over the back of the sofa. "Time to get real?"

"You mean, now that you've gotten me all liquored up?" Piper grinned.

Alex smiled but then quickly sobered. "This is probably going to suck."

"No probably about it," Piper responded. "It will suck."

End Part 3

Did this chapter feel "angsty" enough? I struggled with the balance between Alex and Piper's discomfort around each other as well as their excitement/fear of being together again. I imagined that it wouldn't be easy for either of them to get the ball rolling on some heavy topics, so I hope that played out here. It will play out more in the final chapter. Thanks in advance for comments.


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks to all of you for reading and for writing reviews. They definitely make a writer feel good!

* * *

Chapter 4

They discussed Alex's initial plea bargain when she told the feds about Piper's involvement in the drug ring, and while there were raised voices, Piper accepted the answer. She didn't _like_ the answer, but she accepted it.

Piper changed the topic. "I heard that you requested a transfer when I was in SHU."

Alex looked directly at her. "I did."

"Was it because of me?" Piper asked, and then quickly added, "Please don't call me a narcissist—I know that everything isn't about me. I just wondered if your request had to do with our…situation."

"It's nice that you've come to recognize your narcissistic tendencies," Alex admitted with a smirk. "And yes, it had something to do with you."

Piper lowered her head.

"You'd just told me that you'd chosen Larry. I wasn't surprised, really, but it still stung." She sighed. "On one hand, I wanted to transfer to get far away from you. On the other, I knew that you weren't strong enough to keep your commitment to him and stay away from me. So in a sense, I wanted to make it easier for you."

"Are you suggesting that I wouldn't have been able to keep my hands off of you?" Piper asked dubiously.

"Yeah, that was part of it." Alex took a sip of wine. "Face it, Piper, you and I have always had a physical connection that's damn near impossible to circumvent."

"I'd like to think I have control over who I _fuck_," she replied with venom.

"Maybe so, but I didn't want to put either of us in a situation where that would be possible," Alex said in a steady voice. "It wasn't just a physical thing. I _meant_ it when I told you that you were not allowed to come to me with your problems. I didn't want to be the person you confided in about Larry. I wanted no part of that."

"So it was about you, too, and what you thought you could handle?" Piper crossed her arms.

"It was about _both_ of us, and I decided to do the smart thing and remove myself from the situation so there was not even a chance that you'd come to me in _any_ way."

They sat in silence for a moment, and the only sound was that of a ticking clock.

Finally, Piper spoke. "That really hurt me—to know that you'd chosen to leave Litchfield—and me—behind."

"Imagine how I felt when you left when my mom died." She averted her eyes.

Piper knew that topic would surface, but she refused to address it at that time. Instead, she just sighed and let her head fall back on the sofa.

Three bottles of wine into the night, Alex took off her boots and stretched her long legs onto the coffee table and gave her a curt look. "Why'd you pick Larry?"

Piper flexed her neck, then looked directly at Alex. "Because I'd made a commitment to him and it was the safe thing to do."

"Since when was _safe_ your thing?" she asked with disdain.

"Since you and I went our separate ways, and I decided that the adventures of my mid-20s were over." She took a sip of wine and tried to mask her nervousness. "Larry was safe. He was comfortable and funny. He loved me, and I loved him in my own way."

Alex shook her head. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I loved what he stood for—the normal, enchanted life. That's what I was brought up to value."

Alex removed her feet from the coffee table and leaned forward. "Is that what you value now?"

She shook her head. "No, it's not."

"So what _do_ you value, Piper?"

"Self-respect, honesty, loyalty." She leaned forward, mimicking Alex's position. "It took me a long time to figure that out."

Their faces were inches apart. "I never thought you would."

"I never thought you'd get a _normal_ job." Piper grinned.

They stared at each other for an instant.

"Look at us." Alex smiled.

"Dare I say, we're _both_ in a good place?"

"I think we are." Alex rubbed her hands on her thighs and sat upright. "But I'm thinking evil thoughts right now."

Piper scrunched her face. "About what?"

"Sitting this close to you…" She looked her in the eyes. "is dangerous. It always has been."

"We can't." Piper swallowed hard.

"We _can_," Alex admitted, "but we shouldn't."

"Right." She stood and began to pace. "This has been…cathartic. I didn't know if we could talk about all of this without one of us leaving."

"Don't mention leaving." Alex looked away.

"You still haven't forgiven me for leaving when your mom died." She sighed, finally giving in.

"I've forgiven you, but it's always in the back of my mind." Alex shrugged. "I don't know how to get over it."

"Maybe you never will." Piper sat next to her again. "I don't question the fact that I left, but my timing sucked. That was a very hurtful thing for me to do."

"It was." Alex successfully kept her tears at bay.

Piper covered Alex's hand with her own. "I am _deeply_ sorry, Alex."

Before Piper knew it, she was enveloped in a profound embrace.

"It's been nearly 20 years and this is the one thing that still gets me every time." Alex tried to laugh at herself.

Piper pulled back and wiped Alex's tears. "It's the biggest regret of my life."

The two women stared at each other for a beat, and neither one knew exactly who leaned in first. Their lips met, and the kiss was soft and chaste and lasted mere seconds.

It might have been the millionth time they'd kissed over the years, but it felt like the first. Piper's head was spinning and her heart pounded wildly. Although it was short, the kiss ignited all of her senses, especially her sense of taste. She'd never forgotten how Alex tasted and was reassured that she never would.

Alex cupped Piper's face and they rested their foreheads together. "You have no idea what that means to me."

Piper placed her hands on Alex's wrists and rubbed the back of her hands with her thumbs. Alex closed the gap between them, and her lips found Piper's even with her eyes shut. The kiss intensified until Piper's hands began combing through Alex's hair.

"We should stop," Piper breathed heavily.

Alex once again rested her forehead against Piper's. "Is that what you want?"

Piper swallowed hard and paused. "No."

Piper admitted to her deepest, darkest self long ago that Alex was her Achilles heal. She could never resist her charms, her voice, her lips, her mind, her sense of adventure, her independence. She never expected to see Alex again, and in that moment of vulnerability and against all odds, she didn't intend to put up a fight.

Their lips met in a fierce battle that involved tongues and teeth. It was Alex's turn to run her hands through Piper's hair, while Piper's hands clawed at the hem of Alex's shirt. She successfully ridded her of her blouse and was rewarded with finding out that Alex had on a purple bra. She struggled with the clasp but finally got it undone, and her hands immediately cupped Alex's breasts.

Their mouths remained fused together while Alex ran her hands under Piper's shirt, up her slender sides, to her breasts.

"I can't believe you're here," Piper exhaled. "And we're doing this."

"I am, and we are." Alex smiled and unbuttoned Piper's jeans.

Piper laid flat on the sofa while Alex tugged her pants off and quickly proceeded to get on top of her. Their hands and mouths touched every part that they could reach, and Piper still couldn't get enough.

Alex rolled down Piper's body until she was positioned over her mid-section. She looked at Piper, who nodded, and then went down on her. She licked Piper through her blue underwear, and then moved the fabric to the side so that she could kiss her throbbing pussy.

Piper bucked into Alex's mouth, and with only a few licks, Piper began to come loudly. "Oh fuck, Alex!"

Her orgasm lasted longer than most, and as she came down from that incredible high, Alex snaked back up her body, placing tiny kisses along her abdomen and chest.

"Wow." Piper tried to get her breathing under control. "That was…unexpected and amazing."

Alex propped her chin up with her hand and regarded Piper. "Sex with you has always been amazing."

For that, she was rewarded a deep, sloppy kiss.

"Do you remember when we were at Litchfield and I asked why you seemed so inevitible to me?" Piper whispered.

Alex nodded.

"I don't have the answer, but you and I…" She looked Alex in the eye. "Always seem to find each other."

"We do, don't we?" Alex smiled, and then scooted up to allow Piper to rest her head on her chest. "Things are still day-to-day with me, kid, but I have a full-time job that I don't intend to quit, and I have a network of friends who support 'clean-ish' living."

Piper lifted her head and watched Alex.

"I can't say that life with me would be _normal_ in any way," she continued.

Piper smiled widely. "Fuck normal."

Alex touched her cheek. "I'm not saying that I want to find the nearest justice of the peace. I don't even know if I believe in marriage as an institution, but I can…no, I _want_ to see what life would be like with you without the complications of Larry or drug trafficking or prison."

"As sad as it is, that's probably the most romantic thing you've ever said to me." Piper beamed.

Alex playfully slapped her. "I was having a fucking moment, and I might not _say_ romantic things to you but I..."

Piper shut her up with a long kiss. "I want to see what that would look like, too."

"Yeah?" Alex grinned.

She nodded. "Yeah."

They continued making out until sunrise, and eventually moved from the sofa to the bedroom. They both knew that what laid ahead was not going to be an easy road, but it was one that they were both willing to try.

THE END

I debated for weeks whether or not Alex and Piper should have a physical encounter the first time they were alone. I believe that these two have a chemical connection that prohibits them from being completely platonic. They're drawn to each other in every possible way. They might be toxic for one another, but then again, they might be destined to be together and to learn what love is without the restrictions that were placed upon them in prison.

Thank you for reading. If you're so inclined, please leave a review.


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